Fabricating for the Future: Smart Moves for Oil & Energy Manufacturers

The world of oil and energy manufacturing is shifting. Fast. Tighter project timelines, increased material volatility, and growing pressure on margins have turned the heat up for companies that build the backbone of this sector—pressure vessels, skids, modular structures, and other fabricated assets.

Fabricating for the Future

To stay competitive, manufacturers aren’t just cutting costs. They’re making smart moves - investing in operations that are flexible, data-driven, and aligned to real-world execution.

Here are the four big shifts we’re seeing from top-performing energy manufacturers.

1. Quoting with Confidence (and Accuracy)

Every project starts with a quote. But inaccurate quoting - especially in engineer-to-order environments—can lead to margin erosion before the job even begins.

Forward-thinking teams are tightening up this critical process by:

• Building out libraries of historical job data

• Connecting quotes directly to BOMs and routings

• Factoring supplier variability into estimated costs

🔍 Insight: The more tightly your quoting engine ties into your actual production data, the better your win rates—and the less financial risk you take on.

2. Integrated Job Costing (Not Just Guesswork)

Oil and energy projects are rarely simple. Between custom specs, material variability, and shifting lead times, manufacturers need real-time cost visibility - not just end-of-month surprises.

Companies are integrating job costing into daily operations to:

• Track material, labor, and overhead in real time

• Compare projected vs. actual performance at the job level

• Adjust billing or resource allocation as needed

🎯 Why it matters: When margins are thin, every hour and every bolt counts. Better cost visibility leads to better decision-making, faster.

3. Flexible Scheduling That Handles Curveballs

When you’re managing dozens of in-progress jobs, vendor delays or change orders can quickly derail production. That’s why agile production scheduling is a growing priority.

Smart manufacturers are investing in:

• Visual job boards with drag-and-drop re-prioritization

• Capacity-based scheduling tied to labor and machine availability

• Real-time shop floor data to guide resource allocation

🔧 Bottom line: Static schedules don’t work in a dynamic industry. Flexibility is the new efficiency.

4. Vendor and Subcontractor Coordination

The quality of your final product often depends on the people outside your four walls.

Fabricators in the energy space are elevating how they manage and track vendor performance by:

• Creating preferred vendor lists based on real KPIs (on-time delivery, quality)

• Streamlining RFQs and purchase orders

• Monitoring subcontractor workflows through shared systems or portals

📦 Takeaway: Procurement isn’t just about parts - it’s about partnerships. The better you coordinate, the fewer surprises downstream.

Visibility is Power

Whether you’re welding vessels, assembling skids, or building custom enclosures, one thing holds true: you can’t control what you can’t see.

That’s why the smartest move an energy manufacturer can make right now is building visibility across quoting, production, purchasing, and cost control - so every team can act with confidence.

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. You just need to know what’s possible - and where to start.

📚 Works Cited

1. McKinsey & Company (2023). “The Future of Operations in Oil & Gas Equipment Manufacturing.”

2. Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA) (2023). “Trends in Job Costing and Scheduling for Custom Fabrication.”

3. Gartner (2023). “Strategic Procurement and Supply Coordination in Industrial Manufacturing.”

4. MepApps Client Observations (2024). Real-world insights from oil and energy equipment manufacturers.